I will be releasing the core mechanic on which my Stregoneria rpg is built upon as a free independant document under what I'm calling an IGL (Independant Gamin License.) This document will provide a complete framework on which designers can build their own games. Virtually no skills, weapons, items, monsters etc are included in the engine but rules for their incorporation into the system and how to balance them with one another are. Once again I want to say that this is a core mechanic not a generic list of multi-genre material. The provided rules are free to be used or modified in any way designers see fit. If any of you purchase Stregoneria and compare it side-by-side with the Tetractys Engine (TE from hereon) you will see how I've layered a mountain of ideas and rules additions on top of the core mechanic. This is exactly what other people should do!

Creating a solid and consistent numerical framework is about 50% of the work that goes into a game; I've done that 50% for you. I'm calling the license an IGL because we're indie gamers after all and it has been produced by an individual (me) and is aimed at amateur designers and homebrew enthusiasts. It is entirely capable of producing a game of great depth and scope, be under no illusions about that (STREGONERIA illustartes this perfectly) I'm hoping to get people making games using the TE and hopefully will be able to build some sort of following and a community for it.

I read a lot of people's posts here at the forge and there are a lot of people who want to make games scratching their heads about resolution mechanics and combat variables. The TE comes with a generic critical hit system built in which consists of special effects and tables for wound locations.

I have about a week's work left on Stregoneria to do and then I'll finish compiling the TE. I've spent this weekend on it and have already got the first 3 chapters done. As I'm copying and pasting a lot of the text from Stregoneria I can do a chapter of the TE in a few hours. I'll anounce when it is ready for download but I'm estimating about 2-3 weeks. You may as well check out the site in the mean time.

There is a link to another site called 'Uranverein' which is another game I'm planning at the moment based on the TE and is a post-apocalyptic game set in 1949. It is an alternate history setting in which the second Nazi Uranverein successfully create atomic weapons. After the Americans bomb Nagasaki the Japanese are about to surrender when the Nazis step in and provide them with an arsenal of atomic weapons they now have the technology to manufacture. The U.S., Japan and Germany then end up in all-out nuclear war and within a few months much of Europe, the U.S. and indeed the rest of the world is decimated and little more than an irradiated wasteland. Hitler is still alive and is trying to rebuild the german war machine but is now no more influential than many other factions and splinter groups that have formed. The game is brutal and gritty just like Stregoneria and whereas radiation in other games of this type cause spectacular effects such as giant monsters and magic to appear, in my game it will be more likely to cause deformity or leukaemia. Players have more chance of coming across rabid dogs and desperate survivalists rather than super-mutants. They wil be able to use ex-army surplus such as tanks, planes and gun emplacements to help them. World war II was bad enough, but the nuclear hell it has left behind is a whole lot worse...

Anyway, we'll see about that. I'm only going to get properly stuck into another project if people like my other stuff.

I forgot to mention I have a forum dedicated to the engine and whatever other games I'm releasing or working on. Feel free to join and ask any questions. I've also started a forum dedicated to the Tetractys Engine where people can discuss it and talk about games they are designing using it. I'm hoping to get a bit of a community going there when Stregoneria and the engine are released.

You may as well join now. ;)

I'll be visiting there every day in the run-up to Stregoneria and the engine being released.